The Sky is Everywhere
"Lennie finds herself torn between quiet, seductive Toby-Bailey's boyfriend who shares her grief-and Joe, the new boy in town who bursts with life and musical genius. Each offers Lennie something she desperately needs . . . though she knows if the two of them collide her whole world will explode. Join Lennie on this heartbreaking and hilarious journey of profound sorrow and mad love, as she makes colossal mistakes and colossal discoveries, as she traipses through band rooms and forest bedrooms and ultimately right into your heart. As much a celebration of love as a poignant portrait of loss, Lennie's struggles to sort her own melody out of the noise around her is always honest, often uproarious, and absolutely unforgettable."
The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson is one of the few books I can see myself rereading and rereading. It is few and far between that every single paragraph between the covers of a book is loaded with magic. Every description bursts with imaginative prose that, while sometimes delightfully abstract, always fit the bill precisely.
This novel tore me open, analyzed all of my insides, and put me back together again. I tried to pace myself with it, but I simply could not help myself from devouring chapter after chapter. I fell in love with each character, seeing a little bit of myself in each one. I adored the Walker family and every extension of their wild selves. This novel is one where each character is allowed to be utterly and totally themselves, living in unabashed freedom (and balancing it with sorrow).
Taking on the hippie-esque-ness that is California, combining it with musical genius, and spitting out a love triangle for the ages. It is my dear hope that this one becomes one of the modern-day classics. I have developed an absolute, uncontrollable crush on this book. Paralleling the unusual, the nature, and the human . . . I am in love. This one will have you, just as it did me; hook, line, and sinker.
Ms. Nelson, you've certainly done it with this one, I commend your literary genius.